Not to let major parties ditch it

KATHMANDU, MARCH 9

The Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal today decided to hold talks with all the political parties about the formation of the next government.

The party will add more members to the talks team comprising Laxman Lal Karna and Sarvendranath Shukla that it had formed earlier to hold talks with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli-led CPN-UML, said JSP-N leader Rajendra Mahato.

Mahato said the talks team would hold talks with all the political parties, including the Nepali Congress, CPN-Maoist Centre, and CPN-UML and would seal a deal with them only if they agreed to withdraw cases against party cadres and leaders and release lawmaker Resham Chaudhary from jail.

Mahato said his party would not let the CPN-UML, the CPN- MC, or the NC ditch it again on its political demands. "The Interim Constitution of Nepal-2007 was a document of agreement among all the political forces of the country and it was a progressive document, but the current constitution is regressive as it negates the changes incorporated in the Interim Constitution," Mahato said. He said the three major parties had signed agreements with it several times during the Madhes movement, but they did not honour those agreements during the constitution making process.

Mahato said the Constituent Assembly promulgated the new constitution in 2015 without addressing the demands of Madhesis, Janajatis, and other marginalised groups.

JSP-N negotiator Laxman Lal Karna and Sarvendranath Shukla had held talks with Oli's close confidants - Subas Chandra Nembang, Bishnu Paudel, and Rajan Bhattarai.

Karna said they told UML leaders that party cadres who were facing false indictment should be released from jail and their demands for constitution amendment be met.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 10, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.